![\"Henry](\"https:\/\/abenteuer-berg.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Henry-Todd-FB-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Henry Todd<\/a> may not have been the greatest climber of his time, but he was undoubtedly an original.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an expedition leader, mountaineer and later an oxygen provider to climbers, Henry was a pillar of the Himalayan climbing community,\u201d writes German mountaineer, journalist, and chronicler Billi Bierling<\/a> in her obituary in the Himalayan Times<\/a>. \u201cHe supported countless people across Nepal and Pakistan, making it possible for many to fulfil the dream of standing on the world\u2019s highest peaks.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd died last Monday in his adopted home of Kathmandu at the age of 80 \u2013 from a stroke after undergoing heart surgery a few days earlier.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Todd was born in Scotland in March 1945. Because his parents worked for the Royal Air Force, he and his two brothers spent much of their youth in Singapore. After returning to the UK, Todd worked for an insurance company, among other things. <\/p>\n The first headlines he made were of an inglorious nature. In the 1970s, Todd belonged to a gang that produced and distributed illegal LSD tablets on a large scale. The police broke up the drug ring in 1977<\/a>. Todd was sentenced to 13 years in prison, of which he served seven.<\/p>\n When he was released, he threw himself into climbing and mountaineering. His first expedition took him to the Indian Himalayas \u2013 the start of a long career on the world\u2019s highest mountains. With his Edinburgh-based company Himalayan Guides, Henry became a fixture in commercial mountaineering. The mountaineering chronicle Himalaya Database<\/a> lists 61 expeditions for him, 19 of them to Mount Everest alone.<\/p>\n Todd himself never reached the highest of all peaks, focusing mostly on leading expeditions. He never got higher than 8,300 meters on Everest. And back then, in spring 2000, he only climbed that far to bring a client from Serbia who was suffering from high altitude sickness and hallucinating down to safety.<\/p>\n Todd scaled the eight-thousander Cho Oyu twice, once without bottled oxygen (in 1996) and once with (in 2002). In 2009, he stood \u2013 using a breathing mask \u2013 on the summit of Manaslu, or rather the point that almost everyone mistakenly believed to be the highest at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Henry was also a colorful character in the mountains, and numerous anecdotes surround him. The 6-foot-3 Scotsman was considered impulsive and ambitious, and he hated to lose.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an awesome guy, and he\u2019s a horrible guy, depending on who he wants to be,\u201d a client once said about Todd in the US magazine Outside<\/a>. Others emphasized that Henry was exceptionally good at motivating his team members, enabling them to surpass themselves on the mountain.<\/p>\n Todd didn\u2019t care about conventions and offered Everest expeditions even for people with smaller budgets. The price for this: large groups, little luxury. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a whole bunch of people, and the ride\u2019s a little bumpy, but if you hold on you\u2019ll get there,\u201d said another of Todd\u2019s clients.<\/p>\n Henry was an inventor and organizer. He repurposed old breathing masks from Soviet army stocks for mountaineering and developed a system for refilling empty oxygen bottles. He procured the narrow aluminum ladders needed to cross the crevasses in the Khumbu Icefall and organized the rope-fixing.<\/p>\n Todd was omnipresent at base camp, earning him the nickname \u201cToddfather,\u201d an allusion to the classic mafia film \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd\u2019s path crossed with that of many Himalayan legends such as Anatoli Boukreev<\/a> from Russia and Jerzy Kukuczka <\/a>from Poland, as well as British climbers Doug Scott<\/a>, Chri<\/a>s<\/a> Bonington<\/a>, and Stephen Venables<\/a>. Celebrities from other fields, such as musicians from the band Pink Floyd, Hollywood actors, and Nobel Prize winners, were also among his circle of acquaintances. But Henry was not one for snobbery. Without making a fuss about it, he supported numerous Nepalese mountaineers and their families.<\/p>\n Take Kaminuru Sherpa, for example. The local from the mountaineering village of Pangboche<\/a> in the Everest region went on a total of 23 expeditions with Todd. Both ended their careers in 2019 \u2013 after around four decades of joint ventures.<\/p>\n \u201cOur friendship and partnership endured through every challenge, and I remain deeply grateful for Henry\u2019s trust, mentorship, and unwavering friendship,\u201d Kaminuru writes on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cBeyond being an expedition leader, Henry Todd was a source of livelihood for many families in Pangboche, and for that, I will always be thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd\u2019s family summed it up in the<\/a>i<\/a>r statement about Henry\u2019s death<\/a>: \u201cThroughout his life, he changed countless lives and helped make the dreams of others come true. His spirit and dedication to the mountains and the people around him will never be forgotten.\u201d <\/p>\n This Saturday, a memorial service for Todd will be held in Kathmandu, followed by the cremation of his body in the Pashupatinath temple district.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nFrom prison to the high mountains<\/h2>\n
Never on the summit of Everest<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Nickname \u201cToddfather\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Mentor to local mountaineers<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u201cChanged countless lives\u201d<\/h2>\n
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